Having questioned just why we had to get up so early at the weekend, we arrived at Cannock Chase a little after 9:30am and once the safety debrief was over, it was all about working as a team to make it through the five sites that Go Ape has to offer.

With no two tree-top sites the same, we faced a different challenge each time, well evidenced by the array of blue and purple bumps and bruises on show when we all returned to work on the Monday!

Each challenge got progressively harder and included flying 260 metres down zip-wires, leaping off the Tarzan Swing and tackling the wobbly tightrope crossings. Each one made us all stop and think before taking that leap into the unknown, but towards the end our confidence had grown and we just went for it!

Although the weather was very wet and cold it didn’t dampen our spirits, in fact it made it all the more fun in a weird way and the views from way up in the trees are just amazing.

The team at Go Ape were excellent and we would recommend it to anyone to try it out.

PS the answer to the earlier blog with the picture of the threatening looking creature, is the Komodo dragon, photographed on Komodo island in the wild – honestly it is not a zoo picture!!!

The danger of this is to think that the product is so beautiful that any photo will just be simple to produce in no time. This is often not the case and is in fact quite the opposite.

Just watch this video on how Peter (and his team) shoot the Apple iPhone 3GS for Macworld magazine.

As a designer I’m always looking for fresh and interesting typefaces to inspire my  work or give a new lease of life to a project where we need to update something that already exists.

There’s a great font on the type scene that I feel caters for both of those needs really well – Brandon Grotesque. It’s an award winning sans serif  family and was designed by Hannes von Döhren. Not only is the font award winning but it was the best selling 2010 serif release overall

Its influence comes from the geometric-style sans serif faces that were popular in the 1920′s and 30′s. Brandon has a functional look but seems to me to create a friendly, personal touch, while the long ascenders and descenders add style.

The lighter and middle weights of the font family are more elegant but even the heavier weights give the typeface a softer look even when used at a larger type size.

Give us a call if you would like us to hit your new project with some Brandon Grotesque sparkle, it could add that extra cutting edge to your new logo or brochure.

Time-lapse is a method of capturing still images of a series of events over a long period – then playing it back much quicker.

When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. For example, an image of a scene may be captured once every second, then played back at 30 frames per second. The result is an apparent 30-times speed increase. – wikipedia

It’s perfect for showing long processes such as construction and manufacturing, or in this instance, a sunset over Johanna Beach while I was on holiday in the state of Victoria in Australia.

For the technically curious; this time-lapse was the result of over 500 images, taken at 8 second intervals, then played back at 24 frames per second.

The guys at Just Checking (one of our oldest clients) recently received a thank you letter from Keith, one of their customers. Keith’s father had been diagnosed with dementia, but was adamant that he wanted to continue living in the house he’d been in since the 1930s.

It was such a great letter they got in touch and asked if we could record his story. We wanted to make a short video about the effects of dementia and how the Just Checking system enabled Keith’s father to stay in his own home.

Dementia doesn’t always mean the end of independence. We wanted this video to show that you don’t always have to move out of the home you love. Just Checking’s technology can bring peace of mind to family and carers – we wanted to show the real-life benefits.

“Keith’s film was created to tie in strategically with a new ‘voices’ consumer launch campaign. The video is a true ‘from the heart’ testimonial of a real customer telling it the way he sees it,” says Mike. “It works because there’s no script, so it’s obvious that it’s genuine.”

This short production was shot and edited in-house by Cloud 9. It’s a great example of how a simple story can really connect with an audience in a way that words and static images can’t.

Video is not the next big thing in web content; it’s happening right now and if you’re not doing it, your competitors probably are. If you have a story to tell about your business, let us help you give it real impact.

We’re really chuffed to announce that we’re welcoming a brand new client to the fold.
Electronic Business Systems, based in Birmingham, has commissioned us to create a new brand identity and build a new website and CMS (content management system) for them.

With 30 years in the field of computer and business development systems, EBS has installed more than 1,000 systems for small and medium-sized businesses all around the UK. They really know their stuff, and we’re looking forward to getting to know them better.

Starting with a complete brand ID overhaul, we’ll be helping EBS to elevate their business and create a strong platform for future growth and development. This will lead to a new creative direction for their online presence: a super new website, complete with CMS. With a user-friendly content management system, the EBS team will be able to update their own content by adding articles, images and links whenever it suits them.

We’re looking forward to working closely with EBS and hope our experience, creativity and organisation will form another lasting relationship that’s also lots of fun!

German art director and photographer Sarah Illenberger shows that with a witty concept and some basic tools, it is possible to create a winning combination! The Berlin-based artist transforms everyday fruit and vegetables by handcrafting them into something new and completely different.

Her ideas seem to come from a word play of the two objects she unites together. My personal favourite is her ‘meloncholie‘ piece where she uses a watermelon section to replace a cloud and the pips as the rain drops. It is very effective! I’ve included some of my favourites to this post but check out her website for more!

Clare with the Morsø team

We designed and produced brand new graphics which clad a standard shell scheme. The stand graphics concentrated on the history and product range of the brand.  This helped Morsø display a large range of stoves on a relatively small stand.

The visual effect worked really well and the comments from the Morsø team were very positive. I like happy clients!